On Thursday, the Government of the Dominican Republic requested the Haitian authorities to immediately halt the resumption of the construction of a canal whose purpose is to divert water from the Masacre River.
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According to official data, this request is based on the concern about the potential negative effects that this work could cause to the agricultural producers of both countries.
A press release from the Dominican Foreign Ministry said that the Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, expressed his concern about the situation.
He also indicated that a delegation from the Ministry of the Interior was sent to the area in order to seek a definitive solution to the situation. Henry was emphatic in affirming that the project is not governmental.
The tweet reads, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic informed through a press release that the Government of the Dominican Republic requested the Haitian authorities to immediately stop the resumption of the construction of a canal whose purpose is to divert water from the Masacre River."
The Foreign Ministry added that it values this gesture of cooperation and trusts that the ongoing talks will allow the resolution of this conflict peacefully and respecting the interests of both nations.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Alvarez, indicated that this project violates the Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship and Arbitration of 1929, the Border Agreement of 1935 and the Border Revision Protocol of 1936. He also stated that the limits between the two countries are definitive, immovable and non-negotiable.
Furthermore, it is important to say that this is not the first time that Dominican authorities have expressed their concern in this regard. Since July 2021, work had already been halted and all equipment related to this construction had been removed.